Note : More fluffiness to come! Not mine, though. Well, the fluffiness, yes, but not the characters, sadly. I wish. As for the reviews… Wow. You almost made me cry. You're so nice to me!

Enjoy.

Chapter 16

Waiting

I stared out the window, squinting my eyes against the sun. There he was. For a man who hated snow, he sure was spending a lot of time outside. Hands in his pockets, he was pacing in the small park behind the mansion, walking wide strides, his nose in the air… probably frozen to the bones. I saw Logan coming towards him, walking with him. I sighted with relief. Someone had to bring him inside before we got ourselves a second Iceman.

I hadn't answered his question. I had simply pushed him away and had walked to the mansion. He didn't come inside after me, just went on walking.

He had been outside for five hours, with wet jeans and water in his boots. He was going to get a hell of a cold. He was now arguing with Logan and I held my breath. No. Logan came back alone, stumping angrily towards the mansion. Now he was going to tell Ororo, for sure.

Sure enough, she knocked on my door a few minutes later.

"Come in, Ro."

"Hello, my dear." She came by my side and put a hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet her face. "I'm sorry, but you will have to give Remy an answer, because I'm afraid you are the only one who can bring him back inside."

"Ah'm scared, Ro." Her blue stare met my eyes.

"Scared of what? Of getting married?"

"No… Ah'm scared it'll change. What we are. What we have together. Ah liked it just the way it was." Ororo was silent a few seconds.

"Oh well… I'm afraid nothing can be done about that, Rogue. Marriage can change people, but the marriages I've witness had brough only hapiness, unless it was with the wrong person."

"No, no, that's not the problem, Ro…"

"I know Rogue. What has to change will change and what was said, was said. He has proposed to you, whether you wanted him to or not, and he's freezing outside, waiting for an answer. But know one thing. I know many couples happy in their marriage, but I know none who have survived a refused proposal… Please think about it." She squeezed my shoulder. "At least convince him to come inside." She left the room, leaving me staring out the window.

***************

He sat on a log and sighted. He shouldn't have yelled at Logan, he was tying to help. But he wouldn't come inside until Rogue gave him a sign. He wasn't going to act like nothing happened and just smile at everyone. These times were history. Now she was going to face him, and talk to him, instead of just running away.

He had meant it. It wasn't planned, it had just came out of his mouth, but he had meant it with all of his heart.

Surely she would say yes. It was going to happen one day or another. She would say yes.

Surely.

He sighted, remembering the face she had made when he had asked her to marry him. Shock. Surprise. But no more joy. Just damn shock.

She would say no. She wasn't ready. She didn't want him to propose.

What did she want? An endless sex relationship? His fists balled at his sides. They had more than that. He surely wanted more than that. He wanted life. And dammit, he wanted kids. He smiled, thinking what he would have thought of himself a few years ago. He was once against commitment, flying from a woman to another like a bee. But now…

He wanted that commitment. Needed it. He wanted his life to have sense.

He wanted his life to be Rogue's, and hers to be his.

She would probably say no. And if she did, he'd have to live with it.

But maybe she would say yes.

He leaned against a tree, sighted, crossed his arms, and waited.

***************

It wasn't very long before he heards footsteps in the snow, coming towards him. He lifted his head to meet Rogue's eyes, stand a few feet from him. She crouched in front of him, and put her hands on his knees.

"Ah'm sorry Ah ran away. Yah must be freezing." He couldn't help a (frozen) snort.

"Y'have no idea." He didn't either until that moment, and he noticed his teeth were chattering.

"Come inside, we'll talk."

"Non. We talk, here, now, Rogue. I'm not goin'inside 'til I hav an answer. Please." He was pleading, he knew it, but he had to know. She deeply sighted and sat in the snow. She knew it could take a while; she had put on some nylon pants, he noticed. He didn't know whether to smile or cry at that sight.

"Ah talked to Ro. And… Ah love yah, Remy, but Ah'm afraid of loosing what we've got. Ah don't want anything to change, Ah like it the way it is." He stiffened. That hadn't begun very well. Her hands gripped harder on his knees, and he braced himself for the worse. "But Ah know Ah'm sure Ah'll loose yah if Ah say no. And Ah want to marry yah, despite the surprise yah gave me. So yes." He just blink and stared at her.

"Yes?" he said, unbelieving. Did she just say yes? She rolled her eyes, sighting loudly.

"Yes, Remy! Si! Da! Oui, monsieur! How do yah want it?"

"Oh, Rogue!" He stood up and took her in his arms, lifting her from the ground and squeezing her waist tight. She let out a yelp of surprise, but soon put her arms around his neck. He was still cold, but he didn't care, as long a she wanted him.

She did.

She had said yes.

To be continued!